There's been lots of talk recently in Olympic circles regarding the sports program for Los Angeles 2028 and beyond. Between existing Olympic sports boxing, weightlifting, and modern pentathlon facing potential expulsion, if you will, and the invitation from LA28 to other select sports for consideration, there's been plenty to ponder.

​That LA28 invitation went to nine governing bodies: breaking (which is set for Paris 2024 inclusion), baseball & softball and karate (both of which were unfortunately dropped after Tokyo 2020), squash, flag football, lacrosse, cricket, kickboxing, and motorsports.

​The latter of that list - motorsports is a possible watershed moment on the Olympic program, as it was only in 2012 that the IOC removed from its charter reference to not including any sports where motorization was a key element. 

Flag football would seem a stretch to this rather traditionalist, but there has been world championship events since 2002, and a way for 'American football' to receive a foothold into the Games. But I never thought I'd see breaking in the Games, either. We'll see what develops after these nine sports make their cases later this month. Current guidelines call for an overall athlete cap of 10,500 plus a global youth appeal, limited operation complexity, and sustainable environmental impact.

I know, not every sport can (or should) be in the Games. But in the meantime, though, below are my thoughts on the top ten sports or sport disciplines that I'd like to see make it into a Summer Olympic program. Or at least brought back as a demonstration sport!

What do you think should be in the Games? Let me know in the comments.

And check out my thoughts on recommended new Winter Olympic sports, too.

This past July, the International Olympic Committee added ski mountaineering to the Winter Games program for Milano Cortina 2026. It's the first full sport addition to the Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City 2002, when skeleton reappeared, last seen at St. Moritz 1948.

That's in stark comparison to the Summer Games, which has seen relatively greater fluctuation in its program - Tokyo 2020 saw baseball & softball, karate, 3x3 basketball, surfing, sport climbing, and skateboarding all join the program, at least for that one edition. What's more, Beijing 2022 will feature only 109 medal events, compared to 339 at Tokyo 2020 during a same 12-day window.

Granted, it has traditionally been tougher to expand the winter program, as host sites have tended to be smaller in size; winter ski resort destinations like St. Moritz or Lake Placid. But Salt Lake City 2002, Vancouver 2010, Beijing 2022 and even Milano Cortina 2026 buck that old trend, and reports of larger candidates for 2030 - Salt Lake City again, Sapporo, or Barcelona, for example - show that hosts can be found to accommodate more athletes and venues.

That got me thinking...what are some other new sports or new disciplines of existing sports out there that could or should fit into a Winter Olympics? Let's take a look...

Bandy
Ice hockey is currently the only true team sport on the Winter Olympics (curling doesn't count as a team "ball" sport!). Bandy is similar to ice hockey but is played with eleven players each side (vs six in hockey) and a ball (vs a puck) on a larger rink. It's certainly global - twenty nations took part across the 2019 and 2020 men's world championships A and B divisions, including Russia, Sweden, Japan, China, the U.S., Great Britain...even Somalia and Mongolia.

​Bandy did appear as a demonstration sport at Oslo 1952, but hasn't gotten serious conversation on a return since despite Federation of International Bandy interest. So what gives? Some think there's an unfortunate legacy of a grudge. Maybe some think there isn't room for another team sport. Maybe, with only eight teams in the most recent women's world championship, some feel there isn't enough gender parity. But it'd be a good addition, especially if and when the National Hockey League balks again at participation.

As Tokyo 2020 winds down in its final weekend, I'm struck by the impact of the new Olympic sports. Debuts of karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing came, along with the return of baseball & softball. All of them offered intense and diverse competition.

Unfortunately, only some of these new sports are set to appear at Paris 2024. Karate, baseball & softball are saying goodbye to the Olympic program. Or, rather, are being told goodbye.

The background: in the interest of keeping a lid on the sporting largess of the Olympic Games schedule, the International Olympic Committee has capped the number of sports at each Summer Games. While some sports - track & field, swimming, basketball, gymnastics, etc. - make up the 'core sports', each host city has the opportunity to add an additional sport or two to their own Games. Hence, Tokyo 2020 added national favorites baseball/softball and karate, along with sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding.

But Paris 2024 has no interest in baseball/softball nor karate, so out they go after Tokyo, and in comes breaking(!) as a new sport.

Used to be, these 'one-off' sports were called demonstration sports. With that moniker, it was easily understood that a host was, well, demonstrating, a non-Olympic sport - Barcelona 1992 had basque pelota, for example - without any immediate implication that the sport, and its results, were 'officially Olympic'. But the IOC dropped the official 'demonstration' allowance after 1992.

The show in Tokyo has been great. For the uninitiated, the kata discipline has been a revelation. And, the kumite discipline certainly fits right along as an Olympic combat sport alongside boxing, taekwondo, judo, and wrestling.

​What's more, it's proven to be a global sport. 37 National Olympic Committees participated across eight events, with 20 earning at least one medal out the 32 available. That diversity matches taekwondo's, and outpaces in percentage judo's.

Wouldn't it feel right if new Olympic champions like France's Steven Da Costa, Bulgaria's Ivet Goranova, or Spain's Sandra Sanchez had the opportunity to defend their titles? Or if Turkey's Eray Samdan, Azerbaijan's Rafael Aghayev, or Egypt's Giana Farouk can move up to champion? Sure, there are world championships and World Games medals to conquer...but they seem a bit lesser now, no?

So here's a call...let's make the Games bigger. Open the umbrella to include more, deserving sports. Size of the Olympics' infrastructure and impact on a host is certainly a concern, but there may be solutions - reduce entries in other sports, or increase the competition window (the Tokyo Games already actually started before the Opening Ceremony)...or...something. It just isn't right pull an Olympic rug out from, well, Olympians.

A number of sports will debut as Olympic sports across Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, a few strikingly more unconventional than those we're used to seeing at the Summer Games. While some newer sports have integrated well into the program in recent editions, the rapid change brings to question, why are sports not "demonstrated" first?

A Long History of Demonstration

Sports looking to win a coveted place on the Olympic sports program, and with it perceived precious validation as a sport that matters globally, used to have an opportunity at the Games as a 'demonstration sport', presented as a scheduled event but usually without official medals or records. Demonstration sports were first officially included alongside the main Olympic Games agenda at Stockholm 1912. Most Games editions through Barcelona 1992 had at least one demonstration sport.

While some Games chose events with particular local flavor (e.g. basque pelota at Barcelona 1992), the practice mostly served as sort of a testing ground for sports seeking official inclusion. Baseball was "demonstrated" five times before official inclusion in 1992 and for the next four editions. Taekwondo was demonstrated twice before its upgrade. Tennis, badminton, handball, volleyball, canoeing, and women's judo all were demonstration sports before their own inclusions in today's official summer program. On the winter side, curling, freestyle skiing, and short track speed skating all had their turn as demonstration sports.

The idea of a sport being 'demonstrated' tested an event for TV and fan appeal, and whether or not the sport 'fit' into an Olympics setting, or maybe whether just whether it was safe or not. But since holding demonstration events usually meant adding equivalent operational expense as if they were official, the International Olympic Committee discontinued them.

Now, without a demonstration step, sports and event disciplines can become an official Olympic sport without any similar testing, or proof of appeal on an Olympic level. And combined with a new vision of "increasing its appeal to younger sports fans", this has meant new sports being seemingly suddenly added that may be jarring to Olympic purists.

Some changes have integrated well: beach volleyball (officially added at Atlanta 1996) and rugby sevens (Rio 2016) have been marked successes. Snowboarding (Nagano 1998) is a massive hit today, despite initial concern, proving any purists' hesitations wrong.